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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28524003">hell was the journey</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinarytoph/pseuds/nonbinarytoph'>nonbinarytoph</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Childhood Trauma, F/F, Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Lesbian Mai (Avatar), Lesbian Ty Lee (Avatar), Slow Burn, Useless Lesbian Azula (Avatar), Useless Lesbians, comphet a bitch, mostly anyway its based on what i can remember, not the focus but they all do have it, tank full of dangerous lesbians, this is not very lighthearted so please be warned</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:47:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,033</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28524003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonbinarytoph/pseuds/nonbinarytoph</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>following the events of avatar, book two, from the perspective of ty lee. both azula and mai are in love with ty lee and they:<br/>1. don’t really realise it bc they’re 14 and uh yeah imperialistic fire nation hell bent on honor and perfection? is home of phobic<br/>2. are kind of competing with each other over her even though they don’t realise it and ty lee isn’t really clued into what’s going on<br/>3. she’s kind of a little bit in love with both of them</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azula &amp; Mai (Avatar), Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>hell was the journey</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi! this is not the first fic that i have ever written but it is the first one that i have ever published so please enjoy!! </p>
<p>anyway i listened to the entire folklore album i don't know how many times while writing this and then editing it and then editing it again (hence the title!) </p>
<p>also there aren't nearly enough ty lee centric stories in this world and i am a big believer in making the change you wish to see in this world so voila. bone app the teeth. go forth my children. &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ty Lee couldn’t properly remember the last time when she’d had a real choice. She’d always been part of a matched set; part of a bigger whole that possessed no spirit, no individuality of her own beyond a pretty face. Her every choice had been made for her, her every step in life planned out. Her home life and family, the academy, even her friendships with Azula and Mai had been orchestrated. What an honor it would be, said her parents, to have a child in such close, visible affiliation with the princess of the nation who also just so happened to be the best firebender the world had ever seen.<br/>
She hadn’t expected to actually like both of the girls she was encouraged to befriend, but she’d taken to them quickly - even with Azula’s tendencies to lord it over them all and Mai’s hidden emotions. The difference was that they seemed to like her, too. She finally had a place where she felt like she belonged, even if that belonging had been bought for her.<br/>
It didn’t mean that everything was perfect, of course - her proximity to the ruling family of the fire nation meant that her life became even more restrictive. And it wasn’t her parents planning out her every next step anymore - it was a girl no older than she was. No matter who you were. how close you were to her, even if you were friends, you couldn’t say no to a princess.<br/>
It should have been idyllic. Ty Lee certainly remembered it fondly, a time before she’d been old enough to realise that maybe things weren’t as fair as she’d once naïvely believed they were. A time that was still awash with the fog of childlike wonder; the soft glow of a memory that sweetened over time. </p>
<p>The exact day when it all fell apart wasn’t something Ty Lee was likely to ever forget. The three girls were all 11, and Azula’s 13 year old brother had been newly banished. There had been whispers, snippets of conversation amongst the palace staff, rumours circulating as to what the heir apparent could possibly have done at such a young age to be banished on an impossible mission, doomed to fail before he even started, but none of them were half as awful as the truth. Azula hadn’t seemed too upset - now that her idiot brother was out of the way, she was next-in-line for the throne.<br/>
That hadn’t sat right. It had marked the end of her childhood - of all their childhoods. Hearing the way Azula talked about her own brother so callously had made Ty Lee’s heart tremble, and opened her eyes to a truth she’d been avoiding. Azula was dangerous, Ty Lee thought as she watched the princess’ smile turn wicked and unfamiliar.<br/>
She’d run away then and joined the circus, leaving only letters behind - one to Mai, one to Azula.<br/>
Her parents hadn’t even noticed. She’d been discarded; turned over to a new puppet master and then forgotten about. It stung every time, even though she’d come to expect it by now. But she was happy now, at the circus, and her world had grown so much bigger. She was free to make her own choices for the first time in her life, and even loneliness wouldn’t steal that away from her. Even though she missed her friends, she could now dance and spin and fly free. </p>
<p>Until the day Azula stepped back into her life. It was inevitable, really, and she’d known that somewhere deep down. Azula was so dependent on Ty Lee, even though she’d never admit it. She needed the assurance that someone would choose her - that they’d always choose her, over and over again no matter what. And Ty Lee knew she would. She had to, and she’d gotten so used to it over the years that it was an easy routine to slip back into. And she was pleased - this Azula was still the girl she’d become friends with when they’d been kids. Her exterior was sharper, her flames hotter, her ambition greater; but she was still Azula, and of course Ty Lee was glad to see her.<br/>
That didn’t stop her from looking back, out of the window of their transport as Azula whisked her away from the place she’d begun to call her home, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of silk tents.<br/>
All she could see was her own reflection in the glass. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>They’d found Mai in Omashu, and the taller girl had almost smiled when she’d seen Ty Lee. People called her emotionless, cold, even rude - but that wasn’t her. Not really. Mai had a big heart no matter how trained her expressions were, and Ty Lee knew her. To anyone else, her face was impassive, but Ty Lee saw the warmth in her dark eyes and knew that Mai was glad to see her. She thought back to the last time all three of them had been together - they were all taller now, older, carrying more weight than ever, but she found some of that burden lessening when Mai joined them.  </p>
<p>As soon as they were all together again, everything seemed to instantly click back into the routine they’d developed at the academy. Azula called the shots, Ty Lee batted her eyelashes, and Mai glared daggers; sometimes literally. Even so, things felt different. Obviously, the stakes were higher, but Ty Lee noticed that every snide comment Azula made about her ‘idiot brother’ caused Mai to retreat even further into her shell, hiding clenched hands beneath her dark robes. It was a strange sort of tension - neither of them would acknowledge it, if Azula was even aware of it, and Ty Lee didn’t know what she could say. So she said nothing, relying on actions rather than words to calm her friends down. On the long journey to find the Avatar, she sat between her two friends. She would lean into Azula and compliment her even as her hands found Mai’s and squeezed tight. It calmed them both, and gave them something else to focus on during the long days.<br/>
It was funny, really, she mused one night, that a search for the Avatar had both broken them apart and then drawn them back together. </p>
<p>She’d almost resigned herself to searching forever when Azula caught a piece of white fur floating through the wind.<br/>
“It’s from the Avatar’s steed,” she’d crowed, eyes locked on the horizon and a small smile flickering across her red lips. She’d pointed, and Ty Lee had looked out to see a white carpet stretched out before them. When Ty Lee had glanced back at Azula, the princess had been smiling at her, and Ty Lee could do nothing but return the favour.<br/>
She’d leaned over, a smile dancing around her mouth.<br/>
“It seems, Ty Lee,” she’d whispered conspiratorially, her voice as low as crackling flames, “that luck is on our side.”<br/>
It had been a warm day that day, and of course Azula, as a firebender, ran hot, but despite all that Ty Lee had found herself shivering at the princess’ words.<br/>
They kept following the trail, travelling through day and night and taking turns sleeping and keeping watch. When they finally stopped, Ty Lee shook Mai awake before Azula went after the rest of the fur trail, a cold glint in her eyes. The two of them followed their own trail; something large had crashed through the trees, leaving a trail of destruction behind that was laughably easy to follow. She understood Azula’s quips about her brother now; this wasn’t that hard. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>As it turned out, it really was that hard, and she probably should have known as such. All too soon, she was squeezing water out of her braid, completely drenched from the waterbender’s attack, and Mai was hunting around the trees for her scattered knives, muttering under her breath.<br/>
As Ty Lee walked over to Mai, her foot hit something hard in the wet grass. She looked down - it was one of Mai’s knives. She picked it up, bounding over to the other girl and handing it to her.<br/>
As Mai grabbed the blade, nodding a silent thanks, her cool fingers pressed against Ty Lee’s own.<br/>
“You’re cold,” Ty Lee noted, tilting her head. Mai’s lips twitched, something like amusement flickering in her eyes.<br/>
“Well, I was just dumped in a stream,” she drawled, and Ty Lee laughed.<br/>
“Yeah, well, we did attack them.”<br/>
Mai shrugged. “I guess.”<br/>
Ty Lee went back to squeezing out her braid - she hated when her hair was wet; it just felt so heavy. “Don’t you think that guy was kind of cute?” she asked, her voice light, her tone teasing. Mai nearly scoffed at that, looking at Ty Lee with her arms crossed and one eyebrow drawn up high on her forehead.<br/>
“I think we have more important things to worry about,” she replied pointedly, and Ty Lee shrugged.<br/>
“Suit yourself,” she said, giving up on the braid and taking her hair out to let it dry faster.<br/>
Mai said nothing for a little while, which wasn’t too far out of the ordinary, but when Ty Lee looked up from shaking her hair out, the other girl was staring at her, eyes glazed over a little.<br/>
“Mai? You alright?” she asked, brow furrowing in concern. “I’m sure we’ll get them next time.”<br/>
Mai started, blinking rapidly. “That’s not-” she started but then abruptly stopped, looking down at her wet robes in disgust. “Come on,” she continued, shaking one of her legs and sending water flying everywhere, “let’s go find Azula.”<br/>
She strode off, not looking back to see if Ty Lee was following, and Ty Lee found herself struggling to keep up with the pace Mai set. It seemed like that far too often lately - she was just one step behind everyone else, and no matter how she tried she just couldn't catch up.</p>
<p>After reuniting with (a somewhat annoyed) Azula, they began to head towards Ba Sing Se. Freshly motivated by their most recent loss, Azula was hell-bent on showing up her family in a new way this time - by doing what her uncle hadn’t been able to, and conquering the Impenetrable City. Mai and Ty Lee followed as they usually did, unable and unwilling to talk Azula out of it.<br/>
They travelled a week or so overland before encountering anything interesting; or so Mai had declared,, anyway. Unfortunately, the Earth Kingdom was so vast and under-developed that it took ridiculously long amounts of time to get anywhere, and Ty Lee found herself wondering whether they would ever get there at all. Mai took it upon herself to claim that she was bored about every five minutes, and Azula looked seconds away from throttling her with her bare hands, knives and firebending be damned, when Ty Lee happened to glance out the window and see the Avatar’s bison.<br/>
The creature was surrounded by a group of girls, likely around Ty Lee’s own age, in green robes, striking face paint and golden headdresses. She was fascinated by the way they moved and how they used their golden fans - when they leapt out of the vehicle to confront the warrior group, she really enjoyed fighting the ensuing fight. A group of non-bender, warrior women wasn’t something that she’d ever really encountered before, but it sparked something in her soul even as they sparred and she sent limp bodies to the ground. The bison got away, but as Ty Lee danced back through the flames Azula had created, she saw a girl who must have been the leader of the warriors on her knees, looking up at the princess with eyes as thunderous as a storm. Azula was laughing at something, and Mai materialised at Ty Lee’s side, tucking away her knives and crossing her arms. Azula glanced back at the two of them, grinning at Ty Lee, and but for the warrior at her feet her expression almost made her look like a normal teenager.<br/>
It made Ty Lee ache for something that none of them would ever know. </p>
<p>When fire nation prison transports had shown up almost a day later, the three girls had managed to pick through the warriors’ belongings and pack away pots of face paint and three sets of uniforms - as Azula put it, if they were moving through enemy territory, it would be good to have a disguise handy. While Mai and Ty Lee helped load the warriors onto the transports, Azula had a conversation with the general in charge. Ty Lee hadn’t heard much of it, but there was something about drills and walls and all sorts of mechanics she didn’t really care about nor understand. The result, however, was a grinning Azula and a queasy-looking general, and Ty Lee had no doubts that whatever Azula had asked for, she would be getting.<br/>
“Sorry, girls,” she said as the vehicles moved out, “looks like we’ll have to camp here for a night or two until our ride gets here.”<br/>
Ty Lee immediately flopped on her belly, resting her elbows in the grass and leaning her head on her hands as she gazed up at Azula. “Our ride?” she asked, brows quizzical. Azula nodded, a wicked glint in her eyes.<br/>
“One does not simply walk into Ba Sing Se - after all, there’s the unfortunate issue of that wall.”<br/>
Mai sat down next to Ty Lee, crossing her legs and picking at the grass in front of her.<br/>
“I take it our ride might have something to do with that,” she said impassively. At that, Azula had grinned, smirking over at Mai. “Maybe.”</p>
<p>Camping could be fun, Ty Lee thought. Technically, the circus had been one big camp, and she’d loved her time there. She wasn’t so sure about the other two, though - Mai grew bored very quickly, and besides, she was accustomed to a certain amount of luxury. Azula was even more unlikely to enjoy it - she was, after all, a literal princess and heir to the most powerful throne on the planet, not to mention the fact that she was an incredibly overbearing perfectionist.<br/>
And yet both Azula and Mai let Ty Lee point out different types of birds and frogs in the trees around them, feigning disinterest but actually paying attention to every word Ty Lee was saying. It was funny, really, that they tried so hard to appear uncaring, when the both of them had been anything but when it came to Ty Lee.<br/>
When she’d found all the birds, the frogs, the insects that she possibly could, she sighed, stretched, and climbed a tree. They were good trees for climbing - with low, sturdy branches towards the bottom, spiraling up into a tangled mess of leaves and twigs when she climbed higher. She took a breath before jumping down in a string of somersaults, rolling when she hit the ground and bouncing back up on her feet, right in front of Azula.<br/>
The game was on after that. Mai began to throw her knives around them, marking out patterns in tree trunks - stars, then flowers, even (after Ty Lee egged her on) a large frowny face. Ty Lee found herself laughing at that for a solid minute when Mai added eyebrows.<br/>
Azula faced a bigger challenge - she was the most powerful by far out of their group, but the forest surrounding them meant that her firebending was severely limited. Ty Lee watched disappointment twinge in her features, but it was smothered quickly by determination. Soon, Azula was cupping blue flames in her hands, twisting them and concentrating until a bird hovered before her, bright blue and twitching like it was alive. Ty Lee was transfixed, and she knew Mai was too as the soft swishing sound of knives slicing the air disappeared. As Azula moved back and forth, her feet and hands making quick, neat motions, the bird flapped its wings and flew. It soared high and plunged low, brushing past Ty Lee for a split second. She could feel the heat radiating off of it. It felt like she was standing in a furnace.<br/>
As Azula stilled, the bird flew back to her outstretched palm. She let it go, then, with the slightest twitch of her fingers, and blue turned to white turned to yellow-red and finally was no more.<br/>
Azula brushed back a single strand of hair that had escaped her meticulous updo and collapsed on her back in the grass. </p>
<p>Two days passed like that. On the second night, Ty Lee found herself shivering too much to sleep, so Azula dragged her out of the tent by her arm and scrambled a small amount of sticks together, lighting them in an instant with a snap of her fingers. Ty Lee sat down next to it, grateful, and Mai silently joined them, dragging a blanket behind her which she draped across Ty Lee.<br/>
They sat by the flames until the last traces of sunlight had left the sky and the moon shone directly above them, her light soft and gentle, turning Ty Lee’s hands silver before her very eyes.<br/>
Ty Lee leaned into a now sleeping Azula, facing Mai. It was quiet but for the gentle cracking of the fire and the croaking of badger-frogs, and Ty Lee felt her eyes slipping shut.<br/>
She must have slept for a good few hours, because when she woke the fire had burned down to embers. The sky was beginning to lighten; the trees were nothing more than ghostly apparitions, coated in morning mist. The blanket had fallen off of her midway through the night, but she didn’t feel cold - she’d fallen asleep on Azula, whose arms had wrapped around her overnight. Firebenders were naturally warm; something about their close connection with the sun spirit, a fact that Ty Lee had often been fascinated by. She wondered if that meant that waterbenders were naturally cooler, or if earthbenders were somehow dirt-repellant.<br/>
She wrinkled her nose. She’d been in the earth kingdom for long enough now to know that no, earthbenders definitely weren’t dirtproof.<br/>
A soft stirring beside her made her gaze flick back to Azula. Seeing her bare face, softened by sleep, smoothed into something resembling calmness, reminded Ty Lee again of how young she was. How young they all were. She looked away then, memories of how things used to be in the academy overwhelming her - how carefree Azula had been in comparison. How, even then, she still hadn’t been allowed to be a child.<br/>
Her eyes darted across the glowing embers and caught on Mai, and she stared at her for a while. When she slept, emotions passed across her face freely, escaping from the mask she wore during the day. It was fascinating, really - her two friends were so different, and yet at the same time so similar.<br/>
She lay there in silence, watching the coals finally give up, every last spot of red winking out into black just as the morning mist began to clear, chased away from the trees by flickering rays of sunlight that made the shadows dance. Azula stirred next to her again, and Ty Lee looked over, meeting brown eyes that glowed like amber under sunlight. She smiled, but the princess looked away, clearing her throat.<br/>
“We should pack up,” she told Ty Lee, staring at the sun. Her words were commanding, typical of Azula, but her voice was a little rougher than usual, and her tone was softer. “Our ride will be here soon,” she almost whispered, but despite her own words she didn’t move, just sat and basked in the morning sun, her eyes closed and her unpainted lips, pale in the morning cold, slightly open. She exhaled slowly, and Ty Lee watched as a small flame flickered out, curling almost lazily in the air before disappearing.<br/>
Mai picked that moment to groan, prop herself up on an elbow and yawn, and Azula nearly tripped over herself trying to stand. Ty Lee rubbed her forearms, missing the borrowed warmth that had already begun to escape.<br/>
“Come on, girls, we can’t laze around all day; we have a city to overthrow,” Azula declared, voice back to normal. Her face was a little flushed, and she didn't meet Ty Lee’s eyes as she ducked into the tent they’d set up the night before. Mai groaned again, eyes still half-closed, and Ty Lee took a moment before grinning back.<br/>
“You heard Azula. Get up, you sleepyhead.”<br/>
“Ugh…”</p>
<p>Later that morning, after Ty Lee had finally wrangled Mai from her own blanket, they’d found a nearby stream and taken turns ducking into it. Azula heated the water up with a flick of her hand, and they washed the smell of smoke and ash from their clothes and skin, Ty Lee rubbing off a fine layer of charcoal that had settled over her skin. When they’d gone back to their little camp, they could hear a rumbling noise get louder and louder, followed by the sound of trees crashing down and the indignant squawking of birds who scattered frantically into the morning sky. When the drill (because that was what it was) stopped in front of them, Azula grinned as a panel on the side opened with a pneumatic hiss, thudding on the ground. A string of soldiers marched out, snapping to attention either side of the gangway, and a general stalked downwards, walking over to the three girls.<br/>
“Your highness,” he greeted them, eyes fixed on Azula as he saluted her, bowing.<br/>
“General,” she responded as he straightened up. “Glad to see you’ve decided to join us. I trust that the proper preparations have been made?”<br/>
He inclined his head, then gestured towards the drill with a flourish. “If you wish, princess, you may inspect it yourself as we travel.”<br/>
Azula hummed, making a show of checking her cuticles as she pretended to consider the general’s offer.<br/>
“Very well,” she finally said, threading her fingers together and cracking her knuckles out in front of her. Her elbows clicked as she extended her arms, and the general’s eyes widened. Ty Lee almost laughed. If he thought that was bad, he should hear her pre-warm up stretches.<br/>
She followed Azula up the gangway and into the drill, with Mai directly behind her and the general, who’d saluted them both as they’d walked past, bringing up the rear. As soon as they were inside, the guards marched in behind them, and the hatch hissed its way shut. Azula turned to the general.<br/>
“Which way to the bridge?” she asked as the guards began to disperse, marching away in neat lines.<br/>
“Right this way, your highness,” he responded, signaling for two guards to stay and help escort them on their way. Azula scoffed. “Really, general, I doubt we need babysitters. My friends and I can more than handle ourselves.”<br/>
A pause followed that, in which the general glanced between Azula, Mai and Ty Lee and the guards, all while the princess crossed her arms and glared back.<br/>
“Of course, your highness,” he relented after a tense moment, his left eye twitching slightly and his movements commanding yet tense as he waved off the guards.<br/>
A moment or two later, as they were following him down the hall, Ty Lee nuged Azula.<br/>
“Why do you always do that?” she murmured, low enough that it wouldn’t reach the general but loud enough for Mai to overhear.<br/>
“Just reminding them who’s really in charge,” Azula said back, making blue sparks dance around her hands as she walked.<br/>
Ty Lee didn’t think they really needed the reminder, but she kept quiet all the same, glancing back at Mai who’d simply shrugged at her in return. </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>By now, they really shouldn’t have been surprised that the Avatar kept beating them, but it still stung. The worst bit about it had definitely been the drill sludge Ty Lee had jumped into in pursuit of the Avatar’s companions; there’d been three of them this time, the two water tribe siblings accompanied by a tiny blind girl, who was easily the best earthbender she’d ever encountered.<br/>
Mai hadn’t followed her into the sludge; it wasn’t as if Ty Lee didn’t understand, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little bit disappointed. She hadn’t particularly wanted to jump into suspect brown liquid, but that’s what she was there for. Only after it had all blown over, and the drill was rendered useless, had Mai poked her head out of a window in the side of the drill, staring down at Azula and Ty Lee, both covered in mud.<br/>
“Don’t just gawk, come down and help us,” Azula had snapped. She was particularly frustrated - it was, after all, the third time the Avatar and his friends had evaded them. Ty Lee reached out to her, but Azula stood before she could make contact, shaking off clumps of mud from her arms.<br/>
“Come on,” the princess said, her voice level despite the rage boiling just behind her eyes. That stare softened a bit as she looked down at Ty Lee, and she held out a hand for her to take, hoisting her up onto her feet..<br/>
“What do we do now?” Ty Lee asked, squeezing mud out of her braid and grimacing in disgust. Azula shook her head as she began picking her way through the mud, heading back towards the drill. “I’m working on it,” she admitted, which was the closest she had ever come to saying that she didn’t know something.<br/>
Ty Lee opened her mouth to respond, but she was interrupted by a familiar, loud pneumatic hissing.<br/>
“Ugh,” said Mai as she began walking down the gangway. She was followed at a bit of a distance by two guards laden with their belongings, which they’d stowed in the drill.<br/>
“Of course,” Azula muttered from next to Ty Lee as she stared at the bags, a grin beginning to stretch across her face. She turned to Ty Lee, ignoring the rest of Mai’s complaints from above them about the mud. “Time to see who looks best in green.”</p>
<p>Unfortunately, they couldn’t just get changed in the drill and walk through the gates. The earthbenders guarding the wall were watching them, and anyone coming out of the drill would certainly be labelled as an enemy no matter what they were wearing. That meant that they had to trek away from the wall until they were out of sight, change, walk around to a part of the wall that they hadn’t just attacked just in case they were recognised even in the face paint, and that wasn’t even taking into account getting into and subsequently through the city.<br/>
Once all the drill’s guards and crew were out, they began the long, silent march. They let themselves blend into the rows of soldiers, and soon they were but part of the mass, a troop that had just lost a battle and were beginning the long journey home.<br/>
Ty Lee didn’t walk on her hands at all until Azula deemed them far away enough to be nothing more than a dark smudge on the horizon; and that took at least two days. During the nights, Azula had made a small campfire for the three of them to huddle around, a little way away from the drill crew. It was far colder than it had been in the forest, that morning nearly a week ago - it was far more exposed out here, but luckily they were getting closer to the forest every day.<br/>
“We’ll get there by nightfall tomorrow,” the princess had said on the second night, settling down at the fire after coming back from a meeting with the general. “When we do, we’ll split off from these oafs and head the other way for a day.” She leaned in then, studying Mai and Ty Lee from across the flames, the light of which reflected in her eyes. “Then it’s back to Ba Sing Se. The Avatar won’t know what hit him.”<br/>
Ty Lee smiled at Azula, and Mai made a non-committal noise, gazing off into the darkness.<br/>
But Ty Lee, as ever, chose to gaze into the flames. </p>
<p>They walked a fair way into the forest the next night. They’d reached the trees and broken away from the drill crew just as Azula had said they would, and none of them had felt like stopping yet. They were all eager to put as much distance between themselves and any affiliation with the fire nation, so as not to jeopardise what was most likely their last shot at succeeding. None of them spoke it, but Ty Lee knew they were all thinking it. It showed in the way Mai was constantly sharpening and resharpening her knives; how the blue flame Azula held in her hand to light their way seemed unsteadier than usual, and the fact that Ty Lee just couldn’t bring herself to chatter away like she normally did. The forest provided the conversation for her, though - birds called to one another from amongst the trees, and distant howls echoed around them, sending chills down her spine.<br/>
She shivered suddenly, and Azula glanced back. Something like sympathy softened her usually piercing gaze, and she stopped next to a small clearing.<br/>
“We’ll make camp here,” she declared, and Mai sighed from behind Ty Lee. “Finally,” she muttered, pushing past the other two and dumping her bag on the ground. Ty Lee couldn’t help it; she giggled. The loud, sudden sound provided a contrast to the constant stream of soft noises filtering around them, and even though Mai glared at her, there was fondness in her gaze. Azula just rolled her eyes, but it broke the quiet spell between them.<br/>
The rest of the night passed quickly. They didn’t bother with tents, just laid out sleeping mats next to Azula’s campfire. Ty Lee crowded close to the firebender for warmth, dragging Mai into it as well. Azula fell asleep first, and in her sleep she held onto Ty Lee like a drowning man clings to a piece of driftwood. Ty Lee found herself staring down at the princess, brushing soft pieces of hair out of her eyes every now and then as she regaled Mai with stories from when she was in the circus. Soon, however, sleep took her too, and maybe she dreamed the way that Mai pulled the blanket over her as she slipped away; the way her slender hands, usually so steady, almost shook. It seemed altogether too real to be a dream and too dream-like to be real.<br/>
“Goodnight, Ty Lee,” Mai might have whispered, but it all faded from Ty Lee’s mind as the moment dissolved into fog.</p>
<p>Azula woke her at sunrise the next morning, shaking her awake ever so gently with warm hands. “Ty Lee,” she whispered. Her voice was always rougher in the morning.<br/>
“Morning, Zu,” Ty Lee responded, stretching her arms out behind her head and blinking slowly, squinting at Azula. The princess’ hair was undone, half of it squashed flat and the other half going everywhere. Her lipstick was smudged and her eyes seemed unfocused, but Ty Lee thought she was pretty no matter what.<br/>
She frowned slightly. Where had that thought come from? It was true, obviously it was true, but it wasn’t ever something Ty Lee actively thought about.<br/>
Nor did she think too hard about the flush rising in Azula’s cheeks, painting her cheekbones pale pink. She certainly didn’t think that, with the sun behind her, Azula looked almost heavenly.<br/>
She didn’t.<br/>
She closed her eyes; cleared her throat. Everything was normal. “Azula?” she forced herself to say, breaking the heavy, strange silence between them. “Everything alright?”<br/>
A minute followed with neither of them speaking or moving, until Azula reached out, tenderly, her hand shaking, and brushed her slender fingers through a lock of Ty Lee’s hair. It was so strange to think that these delicate, shaking hands could be the cause of so much destruction.<br/>
“You have mud in your hair,” Azula informed her. “From the drill,” she added, perhaps unnecessarily. They hadn’t had a chance to wash up in at least two days, and Ty Lee hated to think of how bad she smelled right now.<br/>
“There has to be a river around here somewhere,” she offered, propping herself up into a seated position. Azula, who’d been leaning on one arm over to her, was now looking up at Ty Lee.<br/>
“I’ll bet the Kyoshi Warriors’ belongings will have soap.” Azula nodded, and began to look embarrassed as she glanced over at the still-sleeping Mai. She began smoothing her hair down, but Ty Lee giggled as she wriggled out of her sleeping bag. “You can sort your hair out afterwards, Azula,” she teased, but the princess had already sorted it. </p>
<p>There was, in fact, a river, and it wasn’t very far away from where they’d camped for the night. They’d woken up a very grumpy Mai and dragged her with them (well, Ty Lee had done the dragging) through the trees. The sun was beginning to break through the trees, giving them just enough light to see by, and Ty Lee sat down on a rock to slip her shoes off.<br/>
The water, which was clear and fast-flowing, was freezing on her bare feet, making her wince. Better to get it over with quickly, though, so she strode forward into the middle of the stream. The water hit her about mid-thigh standing up, and she had to concentrate not to lose her footing on the smooth pebbles underfoot. She closed her eyes, holding her breath before submerging herself completely. When she stuck her head out again, Azula and Mai had joined her in the stream, both of them wincing at the cold. Ty Lee grinned at them, beckoning them to join her before reaching back towards her braid, untangling it with her fingers and removing the tie so it flowed free in the water. She began to scrub at it with a bar of soap, and the suds floated away down the stream, tainted brown by the lingering remnants of drill sludge. She shivered at the memory of it - that had been her last swim, and she’d take the coldness of this stream over that warm, gloopy mudslide any day. She hadn’t realised how unclean she’d felt until now that dirt was washing away.<br/>
Glancing back at her friends, she saw that Mai had already gotten out of the water, and was now sitting on the same rock Ty Lee had sat on earlier, wrapped in a blanket and playing with one of her knives. No, not playing - she appeared to be filing down one of her nails with the blade.<br/>
Azula, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen, and Ty Lee frowned as she looked around. She didn’t have to look very far, though - suddenly the princess was surfacing on Ty Lee’s left, gasping for air. Her dark hair, heavy from the weight of the water, trailed behind her back as she stood. Ty Lee was close enough to see droplets of water shimmering on Azula’s eyelashes before she opened her eyes, blinking the water away and smoothing her hair away from her face as she exhaled.<br/>
The forest was waking up now too - the sounds of animals calling to each other filled the air. Usually Ty Lee would look around for them, point them out, but right then she couldn’t seem to look away from Azula.<br/>
Azula, who was staring back at Ty Lee now, her face pulled into a frown. “Did I miss a spot?” she asked, ever the perfectionist. Ty Lee merely shook her head, words escaping her for some reason. Azula smiled, and Ty Lee could feel her own face burning. She managed to tear her gaze away by dunking back under the water, staying under long enough to replace the weird fuzziness in her head with sharp clarity. </p>
<p>After splashing her face with cold water and giving herself another once-over with the soap bar, Ty Lee waded back out of the stream, sopping wet. She hadn’t brought a towel - but as she was travelling with a firebender, she didn’t need one. And she was right; when Azula came out of the stream, hair a black sheet down to her shoulders, she waved a hand and hot, dry air washed over all three of them, evaporating the water from their bodies. Ty Lee grinned, chirping out a “thanks, Azula!” before digging out their… ‘borrowed’ Kyoshi Warrior disguises. It was almost soothing, putting all the layers on, and once they were all fully dressed it was time for the makeup. Mai argued against it; they wouldn’t come across anyone they knew anyway, she said, and the outfits would be more than enough to convince people of their legitimacy, but Azula had just snapped that if they were doing this, they would be doing it right, and unfortunately the makeup was part of that.<br/>
The only problem was, they had no mirrors, and the stream ran too quickly to be an effective reflective surface. That hardly fazed Azula, however - she marched up to Ty Lee, pots of paint in her hands, and told her to get started with it.<br/>
Which was how Azula had ended up sitting on the flat rock instead of Mai, who’d slipped away through the trees to practice her knife-throwing - not that she really needed to, Ty Lee thought. She’d never known Mai to miss her mark. Even so, Ty Lee stood over Azula, feet planted either side of the rock in front of her, leaning in as she smoothed the thick white paste over the princess’ features. They were both quiet, Azula tracking Ty Lee’s every move with eyes that threatened to pin her in place - as if she were nothing more than a bright butterfly.<br/>
“Close your eyes,” Ty Lee instructed in hushed tones, something cold trickling down her spine at the intensity of Azula’s gaze. She picked up the small brush that had been with the pots, dipping it into the red paint. Azula obliged, letting Ty Lee swipe it over her trembling eyelids. Azula was moving too much, however, so Ty Lee grabbed her chin with her left hand, steadying her face as she started on the sharp lines reaching from the corner of the eyes up to the tip of the eyebrow. She made it as even as she could, and when she let go of Azula’s chin the princess exhaled, blinking against the unfamiliar weight of the paint.<br/>
“Keep your eyes closed while it dries,” Ty Lee instructed her, and Azula frowned but complied once again. It was weird; Azula was always the one calling the shots, and telling her what to do for a change felt odd.<br/>
“Just hurry it up,” Azula snapped, and the universe righted itself.<br/>
“Sorry, Azula,” she said, dipping the brush back in red and starting on her lips. This time, she didn’t have to hold Azula still, as the princess, staring off into space, wasn’t even breathing.<br/>
“Almost done,” Ty Lee cheerfully informed Azula as she started to outline the eyes with black, keeping as close to her lash line as possible. She had to rest her hand on Azula’s face again to steady herself. The paint had dried already; she put that down to Azula’s firebender tendencies.<br/>
She sighed out of relief when she finished, shoulders dropping. At some point, she’d ended up fully sitting on Azula to steady herself, and she gently disentangled herself without thinking about it too much. Azula looked up at her through her lashes, made darker in contrast to the white paint. She didn’t say thanks, and it wasn’t quite what was written in her eyes, but Ty Lee knew that it was close enough - or as close as Azula might get.<br/>
Mai chose that moment to walk back into the clearing, spinning a knife on one finger. Ty Lee caught her eye, grinning. “Your turn, Mai,” she declared happily, and Azula stood, walking in the direction of their camp. As she brushed past Mai, she called out behind her. “Don’t take too long. We should get moving soon.”<br/>
It took Ty Lee considerably less time to paint Mai’s face - she moved even less than Azula did, and let Ty Lee sit on her lap from the word go so she didn’t have to awkwardly crouch. Things seemed less tense between them, too - it was so easy to talk to Mai, even when she didn’t say much in return. But Ty Lee knew that Mai was listening, and that was more than enough.<br/>
“All done,” Ty Lee said after a while, leaning back to admire her handiwork. Mai had to keep her eyes closed for a little longer than Azula, but it gave Ty Lee time to look at her. A lot of people tended to ignore Mai; Ty Lee was so outgoing and chipper that people tended to naturally gravitate towards her, and Azula of course could command the attention of any room as the princess of the fire nation. As a result, Mai was so often overlooked and underestimated. Ty Lee knew that she herself was guilty of it - her focus was always, always directed towards Azula. She wasn’t as bad as others, though. She could read Mai, and the rest of the world, it seemed, couldn’t.<br/>
Ty Lee was almost jealous of that. Mai could melt into the shadows whenever she wanted, but the sun followed Ty Lee wherever she went, and though she never fully admitted it to herself, she was getting sick of it getting in her eyes all the time.<br/>
“Has it dried yet?” Mai asked quietly, taking care not to move her mouth too much so she wouldn’t disturb the facepaint. Ty Lee leaned in again, raising a hand and brushing along one of Mai’s cheeks with the knuckles on the back of her hand.<br/>
“Dry,” she responded, hand lingering. Mai nodded, opening her eyes.<br/>
“Your turn,” she said, their fingers brushing as she moved to take the pots from Ty Lee. She felt her face heating up, her heart beating faster, and suddenly she found herself unable to make eye contact with Mai.<br/>
“Hold still,” came Mai’s rough whisper, and Ty Lee didn’t know why but her voice sounded a little strained.<br/>
She was staring just past Mai’s face, eyes fixed on a particularly fascinating bark pattern, but she could see Mai, out of focus, leaning towards her and raising steady, cool hands. It was a weird sensation, the war paint - it was cold and wet and a little clammy against her skin, although she supposed that could be partially down to the remnants of morning mist still clinging to the forest, coating everything in a light chill.<br/>
“Close your eyes,” Mai told her, and Ty Lee instantly obliged. There was really only one person in the world that she trusted beyond anything else, and that was Mai, even if she felt oddly tense at the moment for reasons she couldn’t quite begin to place. This was how she felt around Azula, too - she was constantly in awe of the bender princess, and although Mai couldn’t bend, Ty Lee had to admit that she was in awe of her too - her deadly and beautiful accuracy, the feel of those slender, deadly hands ghosting along the skin on her face, leaving cool paint behind and yet making the skin underneath burn.<br/>
“Ty Lee,” Mai said, and she opened her eyes to look at the other girl. Their eyes met, and maybe it was just the light but Mai’s eyes were wider than usual.<br/>
“What is it?” Ty Lee asked. Mai shook her head nearly imperceptively, wincing the tiniest bit. “I can’t do straight lines. Do you mind if I…?” She broke off, holding up one of her butterfly knives. Ty Lee’s heart skipped a beat as she watched it glint softly in the filtered sunlight, but she nodded at Mai, closing her eyes once more.<br/>
The blade pressed lightly into her skin, the cool metal edge tickling the edge of her eyelid, and she fought the urge to flinch away. Mai, feeling her tense, started to take the knife away, an apology beginning to fall from her lips, but Ty Lee’s eyes flew open, and she grabbed Mai’s wrist, holding her arm in place.<br/>
“It’s OK,” she said, voice too small. “We need to get this right.”<br/>
“Close your eyes then, dummy,” Mai joked, and Ty Lee felt her heart swell at the warmth behind her words. She closed them, and Mai dragged the brush across her eyelids. It was hard not to open them, blink away the unfamiliar sensation, but she kept them closed, trying to relax and yet being ever-conscious of the knife pressed against her face. It was surprisingly easily - she trusted Mai, and she’d had to stay calm in far more dangerous situations than this before. It was different when the knife pressed to your face was held by your friend rather than your enemy.<br/>
She wasn’t entirely sure how much time had passed before Mai told her “done,” but when she opened her eyes the mist had disappeared entirely, and more animals were obviously awake - the sounds of the forest were louder, more numerous, each inhabitant screaming for attention.<br/>
Strange how the only thing she wanted to look at right now was Mai. Their faces were so close - too close; she could feel the other girl’s breath on her face. Ty Lee grinned, feeling a little giddy. “Thanks, Mai,” she said, winking.<br/>
“I-” Mai started, and Ty Lee wondered whether her face was flushed underneath all that white paint. She stuttered, leaning back and standing up, holding her knife like it was a lifeline. “I should clean this,” she added on, words somewhat stilted, holding it up for Ty Lee to see the edges, covered in red.<br/>
“OK,” Ty Lee said, feeling a little weird. She was beginning to feel her own face flush - she was glad now for the heavy paint as she cleared her throat, stretching her arms above her head. “I think I’m going to go help Azula pack,” she informed Mai, who was kneeling by the riverbed now. She made no response other than a curt nod, and as Ty Lee walked away, back through the trees, she couldn’t help but glance back at her friend.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The journey back to Ba Sing Se was relatively uneventful, to say the least - it was much faster travelling on foot when there were just the three of them, even if they had to be more careful. Nighttimes were the worst - Azula would normally light the campfire with her signature blue flames, which burned hotter and for longer than ordinary yellow ones, but for the sake of their cover she had to resort to the weaker, normal yellow flames, which Ty Lee knew grated at her. They’d only brought the one tent with them, which meant there was little room between the three of them, and a couple of times, Ty Lee found herself sleeping outside. Whenever she did so, she was always followed by either Mai or Azula - she hadn’t woken up alone on either occasion, and she’d been thankful for the warm body beside her each time.<br/>
But now they were here (again), staring down the walls of Ba Sing Se as they marched up to its giant gate. As they approached, they heard guards shouting, and suddenly three earthbenders were standing in front of them, fists raised and heads bowed, eyes covered by wide-brimmed helmets.<br/>
Ty Lee could tell that Azula was fighting the urge to roll her eyes when the man in front spoke, his voice like gravel over sand.<br/>
“State your name and your business with the city of Ba Sing Se, and we might let you live.”<br/>
“We’re the Kyoshi Warriors, of course. We have come here to assist with the war effort, and provide the Earth King with information.”<br/>
Azula said this casually, calmly, like she did so every day. To the extent of Ty Lee’s knowledge, she hadn’t - but the princess was, after all, a phenomenal actress. Ty Lee often wondered whether she would have gone down that path, had she been allowed to develop dreams of her own.<br/>
After about a minute of staring back and forth, the guard dropped his defensive position. “We would be honored to escort you to the King’s palace,” he said, tilting his chin up so they could see his eyes, which were a dull grey - unremarkable, Azula would remark later. “We have heard tales of the Kyoshi Warriors, and look forward to… working with you.”<br/>
Azula grinned, then, the expression made sharper by the warpaint. “Excellent,” she replied, signalling for Mai and Ty Lee to follow her as the guards turned, earthbending the massive door open.<br/>
“Come on, girls,” she said, and Mai and Ty Lee exchanged a glance before following. </p>
<p>Overthrowing the city after that had been, as Azula had put it, ‘child’s play’. Mai had mumbled something under her breath at that, but Ty Lee hadn’t quite caught it. That waterbender had practically run right into their arms, heaving in breaths and babbling desperately about none other than Azula’s brother and uncle. She’d felt Mai tense a little at the mention of Zuko, and had fought the urge to place a hand on her friend’s shoulder to comfort her. Once again, she felt a little odd, but this time it was hardly a pleasant feeling - her stomach felt unsettled, and her usually easy smile felt strained.<br/>
She was just concerned for Mai, is all. He’d disappeared over three years ago with no note, no explanation, and Mai had been almost mad at him until Azula had thought to tell them why - and that, Ty Lee remembered, had taken months. She remembered Azula’s face as the princess explained it, her expression too proud, almost gleeful as she informed them that, with Zuko out of the way for good - the search for the Avatar was a fool’s mission, even Ty Lee knew that much - then that meant that Azula was now the direct heir to the fire nation. Maybe that had been why Ty Lee had run away. Even now, the thought of anyone having to go through what Zuko now did, all for a misplaced remark, made her skin crawl. Azula’s expression, her demeanor after that, hadn’t been something Ty Lee thought she could ever reconcile.<br/>
But she had, she guessed. She’d chosen to almost as soon as Azula stepped into her little tent in the circus, almost a year ago now. And to make things easier, Zuko had betrayed the fire nation properly now. Azula was justified in feeling superior.<br/>
Or so she told herself - she had to admit, she still wasn’t quite convinced. And one look at Mai’s face told her all she needed to know about her friend’s feelings on the matter. Mai had been enamoured of Zuko practically from the day they met, and she knew that the girl standing next to her still carried that flame, no matter how much time had passed - no matter how much distance there was now between the banished prince and the nobleman’s daughter.<br/>
But now he was here in Ba Sing Se, here with his uncle, here and working in a tea shop and the distance between him and Mai was likely smaller than it had been in almost 4 years now.<br/>
Ty Lee didn’t know why she felt so angry about this, but it certainly wasn’t a familiar emotion.<br/>
She looked away when Azula suggested a “tea party,” not trusting herself to be able to hide her sudden and thoroughly unexpected burst of emotion. Luckily, though, it dissipated when she felt a cool, slender hand on her shoulder. Mai’s hand.<br/>
She looked beside her at the other girl, but Mai’s eyes were fixed on Azula. Her face was impassive, an expressionless mask, but her hand squeezed Ty Lee’s shoulder lightly.<br/>
When Ty Lee looked back at Azula, the princess was crouched down, staring at the waterbender with a slow smile creeping across her face.<br/>
“Take her to the catacombs,” she ordered, glancing up briefly at Ty Lee. Her smile softened the tiniest bit as their eyes met, but the fondness in her eyes was gone as soon as it had appeared as she spotted Mai’s hand, still lingering on Ty Lee’s shoulder.<br/>
“Of course, Azula,” Ty Lee said, forcing cheer into her voice. Mai had followed, wordlessly, hand slipping from her shoulder as Ty Lee moved away. </p>
<p>Everything else happened so quickly that Ty Lee didn’t really have much time to process it. Zuko had joined them - he’d regained his honor, Azula had confirmed, even though he’d initially tried to fight her. The Avatar was dead now, after all. Zuko had done his job well - he’d hunted the Avatar, found him and put a stop to the danger he posed to the world.<br/>
Iroh was disgraced; it hadn’t been the first time he’d betrayed his nation, Azula had spat at him as the Dai Lee had chained him up, but she’d make damn well sure it’d be the last. He hadn’t even looked at her, and Zuko had looked away as Mai had taken his hand. He ignored Ty Lee.<br/>
She was used to it.<br/>
Azula had come up to her then, placing her warm hands on Ty Lee’s shoulders. “Let’s go home,” she’d said. Her hands had been hot - too hot, still warming down from the fight. Ty Lee pretended to forget that these same hands had killed a man - no, a boy - not even an hour earlier. She wondered if the electricity coursing through her own body right now was from the same sparks that had killed the Avatar.<br/>
“Lead the way,” she’d told Azula with a smile that no longer felt easy, watching the way the princess’ eyes burned like flames.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>if you've read this whole thing then i would like to say thank you so much!! i am planning on writing a follow-up tracking the events of book three but we shall see!! anyway hope u enjoyed thank u for reading &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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